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May This Be Love
}} "May This Be Love" (also known as "Waterfall") is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, originally released on their 1967 debut album Are You Experienced. The song was written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded at Olympic Studios on April 3rd, 1967. History "May This Be Love" was recorded a number of times on April 3rd, 1967, and apparently never played again. Analysis Meaning Jimi wrote this song for his mother. She passed away when Jimi was young. Style This song has one of the first notions of Jimi Hendrix writing beautiful, slow ballad type songs. This song truly gives a feeling of gently gliding down a waterfall with its incredible shifting soundscape. The guitar has a very R&B type of groove to it, given Jimi's deeply steeped roots in Rhythm and Blues, this makes a lot of sense. However, it also adds an element not usually combined with R&B in those days, that being psychedelia. The guitar pattern is very beautiful, however it also makes great use of Jimi's enchantingly "new" style of lead playing that made more of a cosmic, transcendant, almost ethreal sound (most exemplified by the guitar solo.) The drums roll back and forth from side to side holding an extremely Native American type of rhythm, while Noel's bass playing keeps things in line with it's pounding notes matching with Mitch's unique rhythmic timing. The song's structure is as follows. The very psychedelic "lowering to earth" intro which segues into the main verse and chord progression where Jimi begins to sing. Then a stop comes, bringing to ride to a halt, almost as if you've reached the edge of the waterfall, and are about to start falling. There is a break, where the song gets noticably more funky and rhythmic after the second pause, where Hendrix speaks about daydreaming, and whomever the gorgeous woman he's seeking is. Then a beautiful cascade back into the original progression, marked by the true "Waterfall." From there, Hendrix sits back and drifts away, daydreaming his guitar solo as Northern Lights, high in the sky. The stereo sound ensures that any and all hippies ears will be fighting to get the sound back on their side as the solo swirls around their head. The guitar solo in this song (one of my personal favorites of all time) is well known to Hendrix fans to induce flickering eyes, tingling spines and an intense craving for marijuana. However, this is simply due to the fact that the way Hendrix envisioned these notes high pitched, graceful tone makes them sound almost backwards. Lyrics Waterfall, Nothing can harm me at all. My worries seem so very small, With my waterfall. I can see My rainbow calling me, Through the misty breeze Of my waterfall. Some people say Day-dreaming's for all the Lazy-minded fools With nothing else to do. So let them laugh, Laugh at me, So just as long as I have you To see me through, I have nothing to lose; Long as I have you. Waterfall, Don't ever change your ways. Come with me for a million days, Oh my waterfall. Appearances Studio albums *1967: Are You Experienced Credits *Jimi Hendrix – guitars, vocals *Mitch Mitchell – drums, tambourine *Noel Redding – bass ---- *Engineer: Eddie Kramer *Producer: Chas Chandler References Links *May This Be Love by Jimi Hendrix - 911Tabs, tabs search engine Navigation Category:Songs Category:1967 songs